Compton Mayor Aja Brown announced on August 1 that she has been appointed by California Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins to serve on the seven-member California Delta Stewardship Council.

“At a time when our state is coping with emergency drought conditions and water conservation is a state mandate, I am proud to join the members of the Delta Stewardship Council to work cooperatively to fulfill its mission and achieve its goals of providing a more reliable water supply for California, and protecting, restoring and enhancing our state’s Delta ecosystem,” she said.

“I want to express my thanks and appreciation to California Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins for entrusting me with this important responsibility on behalf of California’s 37 million residents, 96,000 of whom live in the City of Compton.”

The Delta Stewardship Council is charged with developing and implementing a comprehensive, long-term management plan for a 1,300 square-mile region of islands, channels and watershed formed by the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers that supply California water needs.

“In Southern California, we often take out water supply for granted. We turn on the faucet and fully expect clean water to flow. But without a reliable water supply from the Delta, our way of life in Southern California would be seriously altered,” Brown explained.

“That’s why the Delta must be protected and preserved. We cannot have major metropolitan areas, as we know them today in California, without water. It is our state’s most precious resource.”

“Compton is doing its part to be water-wise, particularly during our state’s drought. Councilmember Yvonne Arceneaux must be credited for her leadership in promoting sensible water policies for our city for nearly two decades that enable Compton to have a sustainable water supply to meet the needs of residents, businesses and industry.”

Brown is replacing the Hon. Gloria Gray, a director of the West Basin Municipal Water District, who was appointed in 2010 to serve on the Delta Stewardship Council by then Assembly Speaker and current Congresswoman Karen Bass. Gray made history as the first female and woman of color to serve in the post.

For more information on the Delta Stewardship Council, visit the council’s website at: http://deltacouncil.ca.gov/